Sonic Sports Resort
by KingBertil
Summary: Wuhu Island, setting of such classics as Wii Fit and Wii Sports Resort, is famously the greatest vacation spot known to every creature in the universe. This is why Sonic the Hedgehog and his friend Tails has chosen to spend their vacation here. But fools they were to expect it to be a mere vacation, for Wuhu Island attracts everything from animals to journalists to world leaders.
1. Skydiving above Wuhu Island

**1\. Skydiving above Wuhu Island**

* * *

Sonic strapped the parachute to his back, now just minutes away from jumping out of the plane. He started restlessly pacing back and forth inside the cabin. He stopped to stretch his legs for a second and noticed Tails neurotically fastening every little strap on his own parachute, checking to see everything was held in place properly.

"What's the matter, Tails? You should be the last one to worry about this." Sonic chuckled.

Tails smiled at Sonic. "Oh, you know. You always have to put safety first. It's a good habit to have. How come you're not the least bit worried?"

"Meh, I've survived worse falls than this."

"From above water?"

"Good point." Sonic double checked the straps around his torso.

With her calm, pedagogical voice the female Wii Fit Trainer then spoke up. "We're now above the island. It is time to jump." She slid the door in the side of the plane open and the wind thundered into the cabin. Tails almost lost his balance from the sudden air pressure and stumbled back a few steps.

Sonic smiled and looked back at Tails. "You ready for this?" he shouted.

"I sure do hope so." Tails stuttered.

"Then let's go!" Sonic enthusiastically shouted.

The Wii Fit Trainer said "And remember to-" before Sonic dashed right out of the plane, now falling freely down from the sky. Getting out of the plane and away from the rumble of the engine was so incredibly liberating to him. Below him there was a crescent moon shaped, volcanic island, surrounded by a handful of smaller rocks and islands, sticking out of the shining, cyan colored waters. Below him, he could now behold the greatest vacation island in the world, with the hottest beaches and the greenest lawns, the bluest lagoons and the clearest skies, the paradisaical WUHU ISLAND.

Sonic took the wonderful sight in and let out a big "Wooooh!" as he sailed through the air.

Tails then caught up. "Sonic, you madman!" he screamed. "You're gonna get hurt that way."

"Chill out, Tails." Sonic laughed. "This is our vacation. We're here to have fun."

Tails sighed.

Sonic whipped around and looked up at the clear, blue sky above. The plane they had arrived in was only one in a dozen, all of which were now spilling out skydivers. Sonic laughed and turned back down. He slowed his fall and waited for the rest of the skydivers to catch up to him. When they did he started dashing through the small, falling crowd, angling his body to guide himself in between them and around them, grabbing and shaking some of their hands, fist-bumping others, and enjoying the fall down. Tails hesitated at first, but happily joined the fun after Sonic invited him into forming a ring with a few other skydivers.

That was when Sonic heard a familiar voice from somewhere in the crowd, shouting his name. He looked around to try and spot the caller, and his eyes finally landed on a pretty and slim figure above him, waving her arms and laughing in excitement, his not so secret admirer: Amy Rose.

Sonic chuckled and dashed over to Tails. "Did you tip her off, or what?"

This time Tails was the one to laugh. "How dare you accuse me of something like that, Sonic? Did you think you could get away from her this easily?"

Sonic sighed a sigh that slowly turned into laughter. "And here I thought we would be get some peace and quiet."

Tails laughed along before pulling his parachute. The rest of the skydivers started pulling their own and quickly leaving the falling crowd. When only he was left Sonic pulled his parachute, and the skydivers were now left in almost absolute silence, sailing down towards Wuhu Island.

One by one they all started laughing and cheering, and Sonic could hear Amy from somewhere above shouting: "This is going to be the greatest vacation EVEEER!"

Sonic chuckled to himself. "I sure hope so."

* * *

A big, luxurious yacht was cruising through the Wuhu Island bay, heading for the port town. At the prow of it stood a sharply dressed man gazing out over the beautiful island. The man had a shine about him, an aura of pure inspiration, true integrity and undying will. It was as if he radiated the very spirit of man with nothing but his presence. That man was the president of the United States, John F. Kennedy.

A secret service agent walked up to him. "Mr President, you-" He stumbled and fell over.

President Kennedy turned around and hastily offered a helping hand to the secret service agent. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Mr President, just a bit clumsy." He got up on his feet again. "You have a phone call from DC, sir."

"DC?" Kennedy sighed. "Can a guy not go on vacation in peace anymore? And what is Johnson doing? Oh, well. As long as my country needs me I will be there. Go and tell them I'll be there right away."

"Yes, Mr President." The secret service man started going back into the yacht. Then he slipped and fell overboard.

Kennedy palmed his face. "Oh geez. Man overboard!"

* * *

President Kennedy and the yacht's small crew managed to get the secret service agent out of the water.

"I'm so sorry Mr President. I'm too clumsy."

"Now now. You've spent your entire life in DC, you're just not used to being at sea. If I need more security I will call for it. While we're on the island, try to unwind."

"Y-yes Mr President." The secret service agent tried to walk down below deck. He stumbled and fell down below deck instead.

After the secret service agent had plummeted, up on deck came a beautiful, classy woman. She had a warm glow about her, one to rival the shine of the president himself. Fitting, since this was the first lady of the United States, Jacqueline Kennedy. She looked down below deck, where the agent had just went, with a cringing expression. She then turned to John. "You need to get better security, Jack. The secret service agents are here to be your bodyguards."

"I know, Jackie. They're clumsy but they can take a bullet and throw a punch if they need to." Kennedy then leaned in and whispered to his wife. "Besides… all the secret service agents are like this."

"Then the secret service must get you better security."

John chuckled. "My country doesn't need to do that much for me."

Jackie shook her head. "Make sure you don't get hurt, Jack." She went back below deck.

John followed Jackie with his eyes as she disappeared down. He looked back to Wuhu Island and admired the view for a few more seconds. "What a beauty." he said, and went down to take his call.

* * *

The President's yacht docked at the Starboard Harbour, by the port town. It was right after the luxury cruiser, The Queen Peach, had left shore, right when there were the least amount of people were moving around the harbour. John and Jackie stepped off the boat and onto the dock. Two secret service agents, serving as their bodyguards, followed them. They both missed the dock and fell into the water. They both scrambled to get out of it as quickly as they could.

A big, black Limo stood waiting for them when they got to land, with the driver outside. John went up and shook the hand of the driver. "It's an honor to meet you Mr President. Welcome to Wuhu Island. I'm the male Wii Fit Trainer. I'll be your driver for your entire visit."

"Charmed, Mr Trainer." John said.

"Would you like to head to the hotel directly, sir?"

"Yes, please. Let's get settled before anything else."

The Wii Fit Trainer greeted Jackie before they all got into the car, followed by the soaking wet secret service agents. One of them hit his head on the way in.

* * *

The drive took them along the seaside road, with a wonderful view of the sailboats, cruisers, motorboats and wakeboarders in the cyan blue water. They passed over the big Red Iron Bridge and started driving down Palm Boulevard, a long road lined with palm trees, running through the grasslands rolling down the side of the great Maka Wuhu Volcano.

During the drive John leaned in towards the Wii Fit Trainer. "This car is remarkably silent, Mr Trainer."

"Yes indeed, Mr President. It is an electric car, running only on its battery. It is charged with a simple power cord, like you would plug in a lightbulb. That way there is no internal combustion inside the engine itself, and with it, no rumbling."

"It is extremely comfortable."

"Oh yes it is. Only electric cars are allowed on Wuhu Island. It means there are no exhaust gasses and no noise pollution. It is all in the interest of making the island as serene and pleasurable as possible. Only drawbacks is that every once in a while you get a careless runner or cyclist meeting a careless driver and they get into an accident, since the cars can't be heard. It's also quite expensive to drive one of these, but that only means more people use their bicycles instead. It is not a big island anyway."

It was by this time they could see the glorious, nine-story, five-star Cocoba Hotel, sitting on the edge between the grass and the bright Sugarsand Beach. The car drove in through the gate outside the hotel and graciously parked right outside the main entrance door.

The Wii Fit Trainer shut the engine off and stepped out of the car. He walked around and opened the door to the passengers seats. "Mr President, First Lady, Welcome to Cocoba Hotel. You will find that your luggage is already in your room."

Jackie stepped out of the car first, followed by John, and after them the agents came tumbling out. As they entered the hotel lobby they could hear someone argue with the receptionist.

* * *

By the front desk stood Amy Rose, with her luggage in hand and an annoyed Sonic next to her. "What do you mean we don't have the penthouse? I specifically remember booking the penthouse!"

The receptionist apologetically tried to calm the pink hedgehog down. "I'm sorry Ms Rose, but there was a change of plans last minute, and we had to move you down a few floors."

"That is so unprofessional of you! I want to at least pick out our new room."

Sonic sighed and turned to Amy. "Ames, come on. This is not a battle worth taking. Let's just stay in whatever room they have for us."

Amy turned to Sonic with a despondent look. "B-but Sonic, the penthouse is always the most romantic room, in all hotels."

"Tails already went up to his room. Let's just get this over with and get settled. How much time are we supposed to spend inside anyway? This is a paradise island, the more time spent outside the better."

"Tails was never supposed to sleep in the penthouse!"

Sonic grunted and turned to the receptionist. "Who's got the penthouse anyway? Maybe I can convince him to switch."

"I'm sorry Mr Hedgehog, but his luggage is already in the room, and it has been readied for his arrival."

"So he's already here?"

"Uhm..." The receptionist looked up. "He's actually right behind you."

Sonic and Amy turned around, and saw President John F Kennedy, his First Lady, and their bodyguards, approaching the reception. Amy's eyes widened, she dropped the luggage and covered her mouth in shock. Sonic crossed his arms and grinned.

"What seems to be the problem?" John said as soon as he reached Sonic and Amy.

"Seems you managed to steal our room from us, Mr President." Sonic chuckled.

"That's no good. Why were we placed in a booked room?"

One of the secret service agents leaned in towards John. "Sir, the penthouse is the most secure room in the hotel."

The receptionist spoke up. "Yes, it has no neighbouring rooms and it is also the most comfortable."

John was not impressed. "That's not good enough. Why not just book a normal room as well as all adjacent rooms to keep them empty? I'm not happy about snatching rooms out from under the other guests noses. I would like it if we could move to another room, and let these guests have the penthouse."

Sonic smiled. "No need, Mr President. We were already about to make do with our new room. After all, you are the president. We can do this for our country, you know. Right, Amy?"

"Uuuh, yes, yes, absolutely. Besides, how much time are we supposed to spend inside anyway?" Amy stuttered nervously.

Sonic turned back to the receptionist. "We'll take our key and head up to our room now."

"Wonderful, Mr Hedgehog. Hope you have a good time." the receptionist said, and handed Sonic the key.

Amy picked up the luggage and started nervously scuttering towards the rooms. Sonic gave John and Jackie a quick bow before going the same way. "Nice meeting you, Mr President."

Before Sonic could get out of the lobby, John called out after him. "Mr Hedgehog."

Sonic and Amy both turned around.

"I want to talk to you. Would you come up to the penthouse in an hour?"

Sonic stared at John with a stern look on his face. Amy looked back and forth at the two men. Sonic's expression then slowly cracked to a grin. "Sure thing… Sir."

* * *

Sonic and Amy's room was on the sixth floor, on the south side of the hotel, overlooking the Sugarsand Beach wrapping around the bay. Amy was busy unpacking her stuff, while Sonic stood by the window inspecting their view.

"This is a good room. Didn't turn out so bad, did it?" Sonic turned back to Amy.

"I'm still a little shocked that we just ran in to President Kennedy of all people. This really must be a top class vacation resort if people like him come here."

"Hmm."

"You don't agree, Sonic?"

"It's not that. I was wondering if he is here on vacation or if he's here on some business."

"You think that's what he wants to talk to you about?"

"Maybe, we'll see."

"Aren't you nervous? I'm nervous and I'm not even going up there."

"I've dealt with big players before. You get used to it after a while."

"Do you actually have any idea of what he want's to talk about?"

"No, that's the thing."

"Oh well, don't let him take up too much of your schedule. We have a dinner date tonight."

"We have a dinner date tonight?"

"Of course we do. We have a dinner date for every night we spend on the island. We're gonna eat out and watch fireworks and the parade in town and we're gonna go dancing. It's going to be absolutely mmmagical."

"...Great."

* * *

Sonic walked up the stairs to the ninth floor. The only room up there was the penthouse itself. When he reached the door to the room he was greeted by the two secret service agents, standing by each side of it.

The agents nodded to each other and one of them turned to Sonic. "Mr Hedgehog." He went to open the door but tripped on his own foot and fell over. Sonic didn't really know how to react to that. The agent quickly stood up and opened the door properly this time.

"Thank you." Sonic entered the penthouse and the door closed behind him.

The interior of the penthouse looked like that of a mansion. The living room had windows reaching around the entirety of the south and east walls. Everything from the Sugarsand Beach up to the pool patio was visible from here. As Sonic looked around he felt a pinch of regret for letting Kennedy have the room. He didn't have much time to think about it before the man himself came out of the bedroom in a smoking jacket, already looking a lot more leisurely.

"Mr Hedgehog. Glad you made it up."

"Just call me Sonic."

"Ah, not really the formal type, are you?"

"Not really."

"I see. In that case, you might as well call me Jack."

Sonic chuckled. "Sure thing, Jack."

"Well, have a seat." John gestured towards a coffee table and two couches in the middle of the living room.

Sonic went over and took a seat in one of the couches. "This is an amazing room."

John took the seat opposite Sonic. "Yes, I hope you're not disappointed in the room you got."

"No, it's a nice room."

"I have actually felt some regret myself for not insisting you got this room. I mean look at all these windows. They said that this is the most secure room in the hotel, but that only really goes for eavesdroppers. If a shooter was out for my life this would be asking for it."

Sonic crossed his arms. "Strange they didn't think of that, huh? The receptionist down there is talking the place up, sure, but the secret service? Shouldn't they be a little more paranoid?"

"That is part of the reason why I wanted to speak to you. I don't know if you noticed, but the secret service agents currently serving as my bodyguards are rather… clumsy."

"I noticed."

"I've been having doubts about their ability to defend my life, and Jackie is beyond worried already. Worst thing is they seem to be thinking the same thought."

"Has the institution gotten lazy? I remember the secret service being a little more composed last time I met your predecessor."

"Maybe, but they can do their job when it matters. It's like a completely different person bursts out of their skin once duty calls."

"Isn't that good enough?"

"In a matter of life and death, yes. But that isn't the problem. If the institution gets lazy this is merely the first crack in a dam that might burst into disaster in the future. Besides, what trust can the people have for an institution that can't keep it's composure in the presence of its own president. I need to motivate it into bettering itself, to set an example."

Sonic raised an eyebrow at John. "What exactly are you saying?"

"Your reputation is one that very few men in history have. If half of everything I've ever heard about you is true then your physical ability is damn super-human. On top of that, your attitude is quite admirable. You seem like a man who would be willing to work for the betterment of his country. As such, I have an offer for you."

Sonic stared right at John.

"Sonic, would you like to serve as my bodyguard?"


	2. Master Wakeboarder

**2\. Master Wakeboarder**

* * *

The beach outside the Cocoba Hotel was a shining plane of bright sand, stretching out south from the rest of the island, hugging the Wuhu bay like a giant arm. It was divided up into three parts: the shore around the hotel, Sugarsand Beach, the stretch beyond a big overarching, Starry Beach, and the peak, Sweet Beach. Starry Beach was the most popular sunbathing spot on the island. The place had parasols and beach chairs, towels on the ground and tables with colorful drinks strewn all over the place.

Sonic was sitting in one of the beach chairs, under a parasol and with a drink in his hand, staring intently out into the bay. Next to him was another beach chair, this one empty, and a table with another, untouched drink. He then a heard a "SONIC!" from the north side of the beach. He glanced over in that direction and saw Tails walking towards him.

Sonic waived at Tails in response and turned back to the bay.

Tails walked in under the parasol. "How's it going?"

"Great. I like this place so far."

"I can understand that. This beach is wonderful. I was going to ask you to go somewhere but I kinda wanna stay here now."

"Go ahead." Sonic made a gesture towards the empty chair.

"Thanks, but I don't have a lot of time to waste."

"Waste? Are we in a hurry?"

"I landed the Tornado at the airplane dock out in the bay." Tails pointed to a small deck out in the bay. "I was wondering if you wanted to take it for a flight. They don't have too many plane docks and I don't want to be in the way for too long."

"Hmm." Sonic didn't even bother to look the way Tails was pointing. He was still staring intently out into the bay. "Let me just finish my drink."

Tails looked at the second drink. "Is the other one yours too?"

"No, that's Amy's."

"Amy's? Are you waiting for her?"

"I don't know."

Tails paused for a moment. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"She stormed away a few moments ago."

"What? Why?"

"She got mad and started arguing. Then she said something about me not paying attention and stormed away."

"Huh… Why was she mad?"

* * *

"And you said NO?" Tails looked at Sonic in disbelief.

By this time they had gone out to the deck around the plane. Tails was currently tinkering around with the Tornado in order to make it fly-ready.

"I wasn't interested." Sonic was sitting at the wing of the Tornado, still staring out into the bay, in the same direction as before.

"But Sonic, what an honor wouldn't it be to guard the president of the United States?"

"The job wouldn't fit me."

"But wouldn't you want to try it out?"

"Hmm… Maybe."

Tails paused for a moment and looked at Sonic. His eyes narrowed. "I'm starting to understand what Amy meant with you not paying attention."

"I know, I'm not. I tried to tell her but she wasn't having it. I've been watching that wakeboarder in the middle of the bay."

Tails looked in the same direction as Sonic. In the middle of the bay there was a motorboat, pulling a young man on a wakeboard behind it. The man was not just being pulled. He was jumping and doing tricks unrelentingly, and the tricks he was pulling off out there seemed physically impossible. He was jumping higher than fifteen meters up in the air, and spun like a helicopter before sticking every landing flawlessly.

"He's been working that thing for more than an hour." Sonic said in a mix of disbelief and awe.

"What? An hour?" Tails was absolutely shocked.

"Yeah, and he has not been letting up for a single second."

They paused to look at the wakeboarder for a few more minutes. The ease with which he handled the board was astonishing. A normal man would fall down from fatigue after a few minutes of doing tricks half as impressive.

"He must be very experienced. How is he jumping that high?" Tails said.

Then, in the middle of a jump ten meters above water, he suddenly let go of the rope handle.

"Wow, did he just..." Tails exclaimed.

"No he didn't drop it. Look at this." Sonic said.

The wakeboarder then did five quick front flips, turned around three times, caught the rope handle again, and hit the water flawlessly.

"That's impossible." Tails did not believe his eyes.

"I'd say the same, but there he is. He's been doing that every other minute or so."

"The handle stayed right in front of him. It should have fallen away before he finished that trick."

"Hmm…" Sonic muttered. He then quickly got on his feet. "I'm gonna try that out."

"What?" Tails turned to Sonic.

"Be right back." Sonic dashed off, running at the water surface towards the shoreline.

"But Sonic, you've never…" Tails tried shouting after Sonic but gave up before long.

* * *

The wakeboarder himself was having the time of his life, dancing with the sea as if it was his long-time partner.

The male Wii Fit Trainer, who was driving the boat, turned around and shouted to him. "Hey, do you still not want to turn back?"

The wakeboarder laughed and shook his head.

Mr Trainer sighed. "What about lunch? It is good for your metabolism to eat regularly." he shouted.

"A few more minutes!" the wakeboarder shouted back.

That was when Mr Trainer noticed another motorboat approaching them from behind, with another wakeboard behind it. "Hey, look!" He shouted.

The wakeboarder looked over his shoulder. The boat behind them was being driven by the female Wii Fit Trainer, and on the wakeboard stood Sonic. Ms Trainer drove the boat up parallel to Mr Trainer and Sonic made eye contact with the wakeboarder. He was tall and handsome, with a body chiseled to absolute perfection, like that of a fashion model. He had neck-long, curly, golden brown hair and shining blue eyes. The way the water sprayed around him and the sunlight hit him was mesmerizing to look at, as if the world itself took pride in showing him off.

Sonic and the wakeboarder stared each other down. Sonic then turned the wakeboard right into the wave from the motorboat and jumped. He graciously spun around and hit the water perfectly.

The wakeboarder knew what was up. "Is that a challenge?" he shouted.

Sonic nodded.

The wakeboarder chuckled. "And who are you to challenge me?"

"I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic shouted. "And who am I challenging?"

The wakeboarder looked straight at Sonic. "Anakin Skywalker! Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic." He turned to Mr Trainer. "Let's just finish this. Then we'll get lunch."

Mr Trainer nodded and turned forward.

Anakin hit the wave, jumped twice as high as Sonic and spun around twice before hitting the water. Sonic grinned and hit the wave again. This time he did a single flip and hit the water perfectly. Anakin answered by doing two flips.

Sonic did three flips. Anakin did four flips.

Sonic was getting annoyed.

Anakin laughed. "You got anything else?"

Sonic hit the wave and curled up into a ball as he jumped. He spun around like a wheel, doing more flips than what was possible for a human. The landing was shaky, but it was worth it for the spin jump. Then Sonic looked towards Anakin, expecting him to look nervous. He was already in mid-air, spinning just like Sonic just had. He landed perfectly.

Sonic chuckled to mask how defeated he started feeling. "You must do this a lot."

Anakin laughed again. "This is my first time!"

Sonic's chuckle died.

"How about you try this?" Anakin hit the wave and jumped. He let go of the handle, backflipped, and caught the handle again. The whole movement looked so effortless it was unbelievable.

Sonic grit his teeth and hit the wave. He extended his knees and threw his body backwards. Just as he got into the air he let go of the handle and flipped backwards. Not having at least one hand tied to the boat was disorienting. Sonic didn't expect it to feel so strange and scary, but now something in his head was telling him he had taken a risk to big.

Sonic came all the way around while still in the air, and reached out towards the handle. He couldn't reach it. It was already falling away from him. He hit the water with a splash.

Anakin laughed and looked to Mr Trainer. "Let's get back to shore!"

* * *

Anakin stood on one of the docks in Starboard Harbour, wiping himself off with a towel. Ms Trainer's boat drove up to the dock, with Ms Trainer herself behind the helm and Sonic in the back.

Ms Trainer tied the boat to the dock and looked at Anakin. "Is Mr Trainer already ashore?" she asked.

"Yes, he went to get lunch."

Ms Trainer jogged off towards the town. Anakin turned to her boat. Sonic was detaching himself from his wakeboard.

Anakin went up to the boat. "That was brave of you."

Sonic looked over his shoulder. Not only was Anakin's body that of a model, but his face was as beautiful as well. He had a small, red scar across his right eye, making him look a little battle worn. But what attracted Sonic's attention the most was the right arm. At first glance it looked like it was covered by a some kind of glove, but upon closer inspection Sonic realized that it was a robotic prosthesis. Even though it moved just like a normal arm there was no doubt that it was completely mechanical.

Sonic chuckled in response. "I guess it was, but you got lucky out there. On a good day I could easily pull that last trick off." Sonic kicked the wakeboard off of his feet.

"Tell yourself that. This looks like a good day to me." Anakin laughed.

Sonic stood up and faced Anakin. "Of course you would say that. I've never seen a human pull off my spin jump."

"I guess the force is with me today."

Sonic jumped up on the dock. "What did you call yourself before? A Jedi Knight?"

"That's right. I am a knight of the Jedi Order."

"The Jedi Order? Never heard of it."

"It's a monastic peacekeeping order working for the Galactic Republic."

"Monastic, huh? So you're a man of God?"

"You could say that."

"What brings someone like you to a place like Wuhu Island? You're not just wakeboarding here are you?"

"No. I'm here for the swordplay tournament."

"The swordplay tournament?"

* * *

Wuhu Town was a pleasant, little village. There was probably no more than a dozen buildings, most of which were small townhouses with the bottom floors turned into shops and cafés. One of these cafés was The Coffii House, a coffee shop at the central square with an outside seating arrangement. By one of the tables sat Amy, angrily sipping on a cup of pitch black coffee, staring into the Wishing Fountain in the middle of the square.

A few tables away from her sat a man reading a newspaper. He had been trying to relax and have a cup of coffee for the last couple of hours, but something was bothering him. He lowered newspaper from his face to look around and immediately noticed Amy. He could feel an intense disturbance coming from her. He folded up his newspaper, picked up his coffee cup and decided to walk up to her.

"Excuse me young Miss..."

Amy looked up at the man. He seemed to be just a few years short of forty, with very well groomed, thick, brown hair and beard. He was wearing layers of beige, billowing cloth, like a monk or a wizard. It all made him look very wise.

"I couldn't help but notice you seem a little troubled." he inquired.

"Oh my god, is it that obvious?" Amy looked around, embarrassed.

"Not at all, I have a talent for noticing such things. Mind if I sit with you?"

Amy was surprised by the man's sudden approach but speaking her mind felt appealing. "S-sure."

The man sat down and placed his cup on the table. "By the way, I'm Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan Kenobi." He extended his hand towards Amy.

Amy shook it. "Amy. Amy Rose."

"So Amy, what's bothering you?"

"Well... My boyfriend is being an idiot. He always denies opportunities, he never works, he never takes any responsibility. I tried to tell him he needs to pull himself together earlier and he just didn't listen. He has no interest in bettering himself. He always does this." Amy leaned towards Obi-Wan and whispered "Did you know President Kennedy is staying on the island? Sonic was asked to work as his bodyguard and he denied it because _it didn't fit him_." Amy said in a mocking voice.

Obi-Wan took a sip of coffee. "This Sonic is your boyfriend, I take it."

"Yes." Amy nodded.

"He sounds like a slacker."

"Well..." Amy hesitated. "I guess."

"Do you believe he can handle that kind of job?"

"He can take care of things, he's just lazy. He never fails at what he's doing." Amy paused and looked down into her coffee cup. "He just never does anything."

Obi-Wan looked at Amy for a moment. "Talent without discipline?"

"Exactly."

"Huh... I can understand. I know someone like that myself."

Amy leaned back. She took a deep breath and a sip of coffee. "Anyway, thank you for listening."

"You're welcome."

"So, Mr Kenobi, what brought you to this island? Are you here on vacation?"

"Oh no. My apprentice and I are here for the swordplay tournament."

"The swordplay tournament? There's a swordplay tournament here?"

"Yes. West of town there is a big arena out in the water. There is going to be a swordplay tournament there starting next week."

"Ooh, I had no idea. So you're going to compete?"

"Yes, I was convinced by my apprentice. It was his idea in the first place. His excuse is that it will be a good way for us to put our skills to the test, but I believe he really just wants to show off. I wouldn't be surprised if he won first price."

"That sounds so exciting. Who is your apprentice?"

"His name is Anakin Skywalker. He's a talented young Jedi Knight."

"A Jedi Knight? What's that?"

"A Jedi Knight is a peacekeeper. Someone who is dedicated to peace and harmony, and follows what the force teaches us."

Amy was intrigued. "What's the force?"

"The force is what gives a Jedi his power. It is something like an energy field created by living things that surrounds us and penetrates us and binds the galaxy together."

"I have never heard of such a thing."

"Not many people around here have. The Jedi religion is at the moment only practiced widely in the galactic republic, and governments of this planet are independent from us."

"Aha." Amy wasn't that interested in politics. She looked down into her coffee cup.

Obi-Wan was silent for a moment. "Your thoughts are returning to Sonic?"

Amy looked up. "Yes... How did you know that?"

"The force can give you many strange insights, but what I just did was make an educated guess."

"I see. I was thinking about how I should confront him about all this. I don't know if I will be able to convince him to change."

"In the end you know him better than I do. Do what you believe is best. Sometimes it is enough to just tell people what you think without forcing them to change. Let him make of it what he will."

Amy nodded, but didn't say anything.

Obi-Wan looked up at the clock tower above the square. "Oh my, would you look at the time. I must go find my apprentice. He has probably been enjoying himself for too long at this point." He started getting up.

Amy looked over at the clock tower as well. It was broken. It had been stuck on 2 the entire day. "Uhm... Okay... Which way are you going?"

"To Starboard Harbour. Anakin was out wakeboarding when I last saw him."

"That's the same way as me. I'm going to go back to the beach and look for Sonic. It would be fun to meet Anakin, now that you have talked him up so much."

Obi-Wan laughed. "Fine by me. Just don't tell him I did that. It will go to his head much to quickly."

* * *

Sonic's wakeboard hit the water. He was absolutely exhausted and almost lost his balance immediately.

Anakin was laughing. Sonic was no match for him. "Do you feel like quitting yet?"

Sonic forced himself to grin at Anakin. "I'm just getting started."

Anakin hit the wave. He let go of the handle and did the same trick that had sunk Sonic before. He grabbed the handle again and landed. Sonic grit his teeth. He hit the wave, let go of the handle and made a backflip. Once again, he was to far away from the handle to grab it. But this time Sonic had planned for this. As soon as he realized he wouldn't reach it he summoned all the power he had left. With what looked like a swimming stroke, Sonic used his air boost to dash forward through the air. With a bassy thud reverberating through the air around him, and he flew towards the handle. He grabbed it and hit the water beautifully.

Sonic turned to Anakin. He wasn't smiling anymore. He looked surprised and displeased.

Sonic chuckled at that, and gave Anakin a thumbs up. "Too easy! Piece of cake!"

Anakin sneered at Sonic. "One more!" He shouted. He hit the wave and made a very simple jump.

Sonic shrugged and followed Anakins lead. It wasn't harder than anything they had done before. Sonic hit the wave and jumped up, but when he got ready to land, the board was suddenly janked out from under him. It felt as if his board had gotten caught on something. Sonic looked at the board. There was nothing wrong with it. Sonic hit the water with a splash.

Anakin laughed.

As Mr Trainer's boat drove away and turned back towards the harbour, Ms Trainer stopped to reel Sonic in. Sonic himself glared at Mr Trainer and Anakin.

"Are you okay?" Ms Trainer asked Sonic.

"I'm fine."

"What happened back there? Did you get too fatigued."

"No... But I think I know what that was."

* * *

Anakin and Mr Trainer's boat docked in Starboard Harbour. Anakin jumped onto the dock and helped Mr Trainer tie the boat down. That was when he heard two pair of feet on the dock. He looked up and saw his master, Obi-Wan, and a small pink hedgehog next to him.

"Have you been doing this since I left you alone?" Obi-Wan said.

"Yes, I was challenged to a duel."

"A duel?"

"A wakeboarding duel." Anakin finished tying the boat down and stood up. "I won, of course."

"Be wary of your pride, Anakin. Especially since you're a beginner here."

Anakin suddenly looked a little guilty. "Sorry, Master." Anakin then looked at Amy, who now stood a few steps behind Obi-Wan. "Who's this?"

Obi-Wan turned around. "Oh yes. Anakin, this is Amy, I had a lovely conversation with her over coffee earlier. Amy, Anakin."

Amy walked up to Anakin and extended her hand. "Hi Anakin, it's nice to meet you. Your master told me all about you."

"Nothing bad I hope." Anakin chuckled.

Amy chuckled back. "Oh no, not at all."

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin again. "I thought you should probably practice swordfighting."

"Master, do you really think that is necessary? I mean what competition do you think I'll have?"

"I have no thoughts about that whatsoever, which is why you need to be prepared."

"Fine."

That was when Ms Trainer's boat came up towards the dock. Everyone turned to look towards it.

Anakin grinned. "It looks like my wakeboarding rival is here."

As soon at it had gotten close enough to them, Sonic stepped up on the deck of the boat and pointed at Anakin. "Skywalker! You messed with my last jump!"

Anakin gave Sonic a pleased and innocent look. "How could I have done that? You simply messed up from fatigue."

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! I have fought against telekinesis before, I know exactly what it feels like."

Anakin's grin suddenly intensified and his look of innocence disappeared.

Obi-Wan leaned towards Amy. "Is that-"

"Yep." Amy interrupted.

"So what, Hedgehog? This was hardly a formal competition, and you just flew through the air at will. We both have skills, don't we? Why not use them?" Anakin said.

"I never interfered with you! This is wakeboarding, not fighting!" Sonic rebutted. Then he paused for a moment. "But if you want to, how about we make it fighting?"

Anakin chuckled. "What are you saying?"

"I am going to enter the swordplay tournament! I am going to go to the finals! And I am going to beat you there!"

Anakin's chuckle grew into a laughter. "Go ahead and try, Hedgehog. Show me what you've got." Anakin turned to Obi-Wan.

"Is he telling the truth?" Obi-Wan whispered to Anakin.

"Maybe." Anakin walked past Obi-Wan and Amy. "We were going to practice, right?"


	3. Talking Bowling

**3\. Talking Bowling**

* * *

There was not a single cloud so far as the eye could see, and both the sky and the sea were shining blue. John and Jackie were sitting on the deck of their yacht, anchored in the middle of the bay. Jackie was sunbathing while John was reading the news, and between them stood a radio playing music from the local radio station, Wuhu Broadcasting. The radio picked up some static. John reached over and adjusted it.

Jackie looked at John. "You don't seem completely relaxed, Jack."

She was right. "I feel a little embarrassed by Sonic rejecting my offer." John muttered.

"I see." Jackie said. "Well, don't let it get to you too much."

"I realized I have not been rejected in a very long time. I'm not used to it."

The radio picked up more static. John tried to turn it out again but it didn't seem to work this time. The static got even worse. The music could barely even be heard by now.

"What's going on with the radio?" Jackie wondered.

As she did the static suddenly disappeared. The radio was silent for a few seconds before voices could be heard from it.

First was the voice of what sounded like a teenage girl. "We almost have all the equipment ready. We're just about set up." It sounded as if she was far away from whatever microphone was broadcasting.

Answering her was what sounded like a boy, about the same age. "Do you think we have enough batteries? They might be hard to get a hold of out here." It sounded as if he was right by the microphone.

"Oh yeah, and just wait until you see what Corn cooked up, dude. He took a bunch of the batteries and-" The girl was interrupted by a door opening in the background.

The voice of what sounded like an adult man could be heard. "Yo, why is the- BEAT! WHAT THE FU- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

The teenage boy by the mic answered. "Did I do something? I just put my blades up on the ta-"

"Can't you see the sign? The big flashing sign right in front of you? You're broadcasting! Turn it off, you fu-"

The broadcast shut off. The radio continued playing music from Wuhu Broadcasting.

John and Jackie looked at each other.

"What was that?" Jackie wondered.

"I have no idea." John answered.

* * *

The Wuhu bowling club was one of the better bowling clubs in the entire world. Some people would come to Wuhu Island and do nothing but bowl for their entire stay. This was also where you would go to sign up for the Wuhu Swordplay Tournament. At 3:00 pm the door flew open and Sonic entered the building, closely followed by Amy.

"Sonic, you haven't thought this through. You don't know what kind of madmen you might fight in that tournament."

"Come on, Amy. It's a sports tournament. It's not as if they use real swords. Besides, I have experience in sword fighting."

"When have you EVER touched a sword before?!"

"That's actually a good question, but that's not the point. I'm going to enter that tournament and sweep the floor with that Jedi and his haircut."

"You're not one to talk about haircuts, Sonic!"

Tails entered the building. "Hey, guys. I got your message, Amy. What's so urgent?"

Amy turned to Tails like a wild animal. "Your friend here thinks it's a good idea to join the swordplay tournament. Tell him not to!"

"The swordplay tournament?" Tails looked at Sonic. Then he looked back at Amy. Then at Sonic. "Are you sure about that, Sonic?"

"Absolutely." Sonic answered.

Tails was quiet for a moment. Then he looked at Amy. "I don't really have a problem with that."

"TAILS!" Amy shouted.

"Excuse me?" The receptionist spoke up. Everyone turned to her. Turns out it was Ms Trainer. "Can I help you?"

Sonic looked at her. "Ms Trainer? You work here?"

"I work in a lot of places on this island."

"I see." Sonic shrugged. "Well, I'm here to sign up for the swordplay tournament."

"No he's not!" Amy interjected.

Sonic turned to Amy. "Amy, I'm going to beat that Jedi Knight even if you don't want me to."

"Hey guys, calm down. Let's talk about this." Tails stepped in between them and looked at Ms Trainer. "We would like to play a game of bowling."

Sonic and Amy stared at Tails in silence.

* * *

 _Round 1! Sonic 0 - Amy 0 - Tails 0_

The pins dropped down at the end of the aisle. Sonic picked up a bowling ball and inserted his fingers into it. He got set and rolled it down the lane. He knocked down six of them. He picked up another ball and rolled again. He got a spare. Sonic turned around towards Amy and Tails, who were sitting down.

"I still don't understand why you're so against me entering the tournament, Amy." Sonic said.

Amy stood up. "It is not a good idea, Sonic!" She picked up a bowling ball. "This tournament is a huge thing on the island. There will probably be people here who do it professionally." She got set and rolled the ball with all her might. The ball raced down the lane and crashed into the pins. She got a split. She growled and grabbed another ball. She aimed carefully and with all her power, rolled the ball towards the two standing pins. She missed them.

Before sitting down she turned to Sonic again. "Also, you don't know what those Jedi Knights are capable of."

"Is that what you're afraid of, Amy? The Jedi Knights? I can take them, no problem."

Tails stood up and butted in. "Hold it, hold it! Did you guys say Jedi Knights?"

Sonic and Amy looked at Tails. "Yes." Sonic answered.

Tails picked up a bowling ball. "That's another story." Tails rolled his ball down the lane. He got a strike.

Amy looked at the pins. "Hey, nice shot."

Sonic wasn't so easily distracted. "Wait. Tails, what do you know about the Jedi?"

 _Round 2! Sonic 10 - Amy 8 - Tails 10_

"Just the usual stuff." Tails responded.

"What's the usual stuff?" Sonic asked. "I had never heard of them before today." He picked up another bowling ball.

Tails looked at Sonic. "Are you serious?"

Amy looked at Tails. "Me neither, actually."

"The Jedi are huge players in galactic politics right now. They're in the news, like, once a week."

"Huh." Sonic knocked down five pins. "I didn't know that." He picked up another ball. He rolled it away and knocked down three more pins.

"You don't read the news, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"No, not really. I never care about any of that stuff."

Amy stood up and picked up another ball. "I really don't either." She rolled the ball with the same power as before. The ball crashed right through the pins, knocking over six of them. "You always hear about the big news anyway." Her next ball missed completely. "But Tails, how powerful would you say the Jedi are?"

Tails picked up his next ball. "Beyond powerful. They have defeated entire modern armies by themselves, only using swords." Tails rolled the ball and knocked down six pins.

Amy looked at Sonic. "Well that's another reason for you not to do this, Sonic."

Sonic shook his head. "You know... I kind of want to beat him even more now."

Tails picked up another ball. "I though you might say that." He knocked down the rest of the pins.

 _Round 3! Sonic 18 - Amy 14 - Tails 30_

"Tails, at least try to sound like you care!" Amy said, agitated.

"Hey now, Amy, I care. I'm just not really worried."

Sonic took his next shoot. "And you shouldn't be." He knocked down six pins.

"Amy, Sonic could beat anyone here on speed alone." Tails said. "He can compensate for any lack in skill with nothing but speed."

Sonic rolled another ball and knocked down just one more pin.

Amy stood up and picked up another ball. "Do you really think you can compensate enough, though?"

Sonic answered as if it was obvious. "Well, for a regular person speed would be worthless in this situation, but..."

Tails picked the sentence up. "But Sonic is _really_ fast."

Amy rolled the ball with all her might. She knocked down three pins. "But what if Anakin uses that trick against you again? Not even speed will beat that." She picked up another ball and knocked down three more pins.

"That would prove him the coward." Sonic growled. "I will have to trust that Skywalker respects the rules this time. I'm not going to be the coward myself and chicken out."

Tails was about to pick another ball but stopped himself. "Wait. Did you say Anakin Skywalker?"

"Yeah. Sonic went wakeboarding with him earlier today and they apparently got in some kind of competition. Sonic lost and said that he was going to steal the victory of the tournament from him." Amy said.

Tails picked up the ball. "Aha, I see. He was the wakeboarder you kept staring at earlier, huh?" He rolled another strike.

 _Round 4! Sonic 25 - Amy 20 - Tails 40_

"You should know that Anakin Skywalker is a famous name among the Jedi." Tails said.

Sonic picked another ball. "Really? Why?" He knocked down seven pins.

"He is an absolute prodigy. He is the most force sensitive person the Jedi have found in recent history. They took him in when he was nine."

"Nine? That young?" Amy said.

Sonic missed the rest of the pins.

"Not young. Old." Tails said. "The Jedi usually take kids in before they're five. They're really scared of personal attachment so they start training as early as possible in order to make sure they don't feel attached to their families. They believe that attachments risk making you selfish and destructive. With the amount of power the Jedi have they must be wary of such attitudes."

Amy picked her next ball. "That's messed up." She rolled it with incredible force and knocked down three pins.

"A lot of people outside of The Jedi Order say that." Tails said.

"So they accepted him in spite of his age because he was too powerful to let go?" Sonic said, completely ignoring Amy's concern.

Tails nodded. "Exactly."

Amy picked another ball and knocked down three more pins. "So how strong is he?"

"Insanely!" Tails stated. "He can communicate with the force unlike anyone else. They say he can hear everything about his surroundings, like feelings and intentions and risks." He picked his next ball.

" _Hear_ risks?" Sonic said.

Tails got ready to roll his ball. "That's the type of things the force lets you do. It's a network of life. In effect the guy has no reaction time." Tails rolled another strike.

 _Round 5! Sonic 32 - Amy 26 - Tails 60_

"It's like he can see split seconds into the future." Tails looked at Sonic.

Sonic was smiling ear to ear. He chuckled. "Imagine beating a man like that." He picked another ball.

"Sonic!" Amy snapped.

"Come on, Amy." Sonic responded. "You can see years into the future and and it wouldn't make you faster than me." He rolled the ball and knocked down five pins.

"Sonic if anyone could beat you it's this man!"

"I guess." Sonic shrugged and picked another ball. "But I doubt he will." He rolled it and got a spare.

Amy sighed. She went to pick up another ball.

"Amy, what is it you're actually worried about about?" Tails said. "It's a sports tournament. They're fighting with fake swords and safety gear."

"People get hurt at sport events all the time." Amy picked a ball and rolled it with just as much power again. She completely missed this time. "And Sonic, you'll be so humiliated if you lose in this." She picked up another ball.

"Not really. I'm just some tourist who decided to enter for fun, as far as any spectators know." Sonic answered. "On the flip side, imagine the reaction if I beat Skywalker."

Amy rolled the second ball and knocked down five pins. "Then he will be even more humiliated."

"He knows what's up already." Sonic said sternly. "He knows exactly what it means that I challenged him at this."

Tails picked up another ball. "Amy, if Sonic personally challenged Anakin Skywalker he should really go through with it." He rolled another strike. "You can't just backtrack on things like that."

 _Round 6! Sonic 42 - Amy 31 - Tails 80_

Amy was still not happy. "I would still prefer you didn't do this."

Sonic picked up his next ball. "Do you just not want to see Skywalker humiliated or what?"

Amy looked surprised but was silent. Sonic was probably right about that. Sonic rolled the ball and knocked down six pins.

As he picked his second ball he turned to Amy. "Why don't you join?"

Amy recoiled a little. "Wh-what?"

Sonic rolled the ball and got a spare. "You can join the tournament yourself. Try to beat me out before I get to Skywalker."

Amy hadn't considered that. She wasn't exactly ready to process the idea.

"Ames, it's your turn." Sonic said and gestured towards the ball rack.

Amy snapped out of it and quickly picked another ball. She rolled it and knocked down seven pins.

"You might do well in swordfighting, Amy." Tails chimed in. "You're more experienced fighting with weapons than Sonic."

"But I'm not as good as a Jedi Knight." Amy picked her second ball. "And I'm not as fast as you, Sonic." She rolled it and got her first spare. She got distracted by that and giggled cheerfully for a moment.

"You're good enough to give it a try." Sonic said.

"I guess."

Tails picked up his next ball. "Do like Sonic. Just imagine how accomplished you'd feel if you won." Tails rolled his ball and got another strike.

Sonic changed the subject completely. "Hold on, hold on! Tails, how are you so good at this?"

 _Round 7! Sonic 52 - Amy 41 - Tails 100_

Tails shrugged. "I just try to estimate how the ball is going to go and roll it."

Sonic picked up a new ball. "Well, obviously." He rolled it and knocked down four pins. "But it doesn't work out for us nearly as well."

"Is it just body control? I'm an engineer, I'm used to being careful."

"Maybe." Sonic picked up another ball. He rolled it and knocked down three more pins.

Amy picked her next ball and rolled it. It gave her another split.

"You might just be too forceful, Amy." Tails said. "You're getting too strong from carrying your sledgehammer around."

"You think?" Amy picked her next ball.

"Try to be a little more delicate. Your aim is not bad but you're putting so much power into it."

Amy looked as the two separated pins. She aimed carefully rolled the ball with all her might once again. She only knocked down one of the pins.

"No, no, no! That's to much again." Tails picked another ball. "Look at this. Aiming is not all-important." He lined himself up with the lane and got set to roll the ball. "You can adjust your aim while you're rolling the ball based on feeling, but you need to be gentle to manage that." He rolled the ball and got another strike.

 _Round 8! Sonic 59 - Amy 49 - Tails 120_

Sonic went to pick another ball. "I might just be bad at aiming." He rolled the ball and missed.

"Now you're just messing up for yourself by thinking like that." Tails said.

Sonic picked another ball. He tried to be a little more careful this time and rolled it. He knocked down seven pins. "Well, at least it's something."

Amy picked up her next ball. She tried to be more careful this time. She rolled the ball and, with just as much power as before, got another split. She mumbles something in a bitter tone.

"You can still take both of those down if you're precise about it." Tails said.

"That's easy for you to say. You haven't gotten any of those before." Amy picked up her next ball.

Tails stepped forward. "May I give it a try?" He reached his hand towards Amy. "I'll help you out with one ball, just this once."

Amy looked at Tails for a moment and handed the ball to him. Tails stepped up to the lane and looked at the pins. He got set to roll the ball and carefully sent it away. It struck the right pin from the side, toppling it right into the left pin.

"Oh my." Amy said. Sonic was impressed.

"You just need to be careful." Tails said, a little proud. He then picked up his own ball and got another strike.

 _Round 9! Sonic 66 - Amy 59 - Tails 140_

Sonic picked up his next ball. "So what do you say, Amy? About the tournament?" He rolled the ball and knocked down three pins.

"Oh geez. I don't know." Amy shook her head.

Sonic picked his second ball. "If you want to beat me out before I have a chance to beat out the Jedi it's your only option." He rolled the ball and knocked down five more pins.

Amy picked her own ball. "So it really is a lost cause to try and convince you otherwise?" She rolled it and got a split for the fourth time.

"Yeah." Sonic said.

"Definately." Tails said.

Amy picked a second ball and took a deep breath. She carefully rolled it and knocked down one of the pins. It was close to hitting the last one but missed by a few inches.

She crossed her arms. "I don't think I'll do it myself. I don't think I have the guts for it."

Tails picked a ball. "You might enjoy it though." He got another strike.

 _Round 10! Sonic 74 - Amy 68 - Tails 160_

Sonic picked another ball. He rolled it and knocked down two pins. "Ooh, that was bad."

Tails looked at their scores. "You know, Sonic, at this rate Amy might actually beat you."

Sonic picked up another ball. "Let's not jump to any conclusions just yet. I have one shot left." He took a deep breath and rolled it. He knocked down seven pins.

"Not bad." Tails nodded.

Amy stepped up to the lane with a new ball. She concentrated on the pins and rolled the ball. For the fifth time she got a split. Sonic couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't you celebrate too early either." Amy picked her second ball. She rolled it really carefully, paying attention to what Tails had described to her earlier. She hit the left pin, knocking it in the direction of the right pin. They colided and both fell down.

Amy turned around and cheered.

"Just like that!" Tails said. "Now try to do the same thing against all ten of them."

The pins reset. Amy picked up her last ball. She carefully rolled it and held her breath as it rolled down the lane. The ball crashed right into the pins, and she got a strike.

Amy turned around and cheered again.

"Well, god damnit, Amy. You beat me." Sonic clapped.

Tails got a spare and a strike.

 _Final score! Sonic 83 - Amy 88 - Tails 190_

* * *

They went up to the reception counter after the game was done. Before talking to Ms Trainer, Sonic turned to Amy.

"Are you fine with the fact that I'm entering the tournament now, Ames?"

Amy crossed her arms. She was still a bit cheerful from the game. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"No, you really don't." Sonic chuckled. He then turned to Ms Trainer. "I would like to enter the swordplay tournament."

Ms Trainer nodded. "Of course." She handed Sonic a piece of paper and a pen. "Just fill out this quick form and you'll be in."

As Sonic was filling it out Amy spoke up. "I would also like to enter."

Sonic looked up at Amy and smiled. "So you're doing it?"

"Beating you in this game was kinda fun." She received the form from Ms Trainer.

"I see. Well, it won't be so easy next time." Sonic chuckled.

Amy playfully elbowed Sonic's side. He playfully retaliated.

Sonic turned around. "Hey, Tails!"

Tails looked at Sonic.

"You gonna enter?"

Tails kept looking at Sonic. "Me?" The thought hadn't entered his mind. "But I'm not even a fighter."

"I'll train you, no problem."

Tails just looked at Sonic. He was silent for a good ten seconds. "Are we going to have another long argument if I don't?"

"Maybe."

Tails turned to Ms Trainer. "Then I would like to enter the swordplay tournament as well."

Ms Trainer handed him the same form.

When they had all filled out their forms Ms Trainer looked over them and put them in a file behind the counter.

"The tournament will have it's ranking fights in three days." She said. "After that the eight competitors who did well enough be placed in the finals brackets. Two days later we will have the quarter-finals, the next day we will have the semi-finals, and on the day after that we will be having the final game."

Sonic looked at the others. "Then it's time to go training."

"There is a training facility for sword fighters connected to the gym in town. It's free for guests at the Cocoba Hotel. Just show your Cocoba stamp card at the door."

"Thanks." Amy turned to Sonic. "I left my card in our room."

Sonic nodded and started moving towards the exit. "Should I go get it for you?"

Amy smiled at him. "Yeah. If it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all." Sonic pushed the door open. "Tails, have you got yours?"

"Yep." Tails held up a small, light blue card, with a grid of 20 squares on it.

"Good." Sonic looked to Amy. "I'll go get the cards from our room then. I'll be back in a few minutes." Sonic bent his knees. "Ready..." with a bassy boom Sonic dashed away, so fast that he just disappeared.

Tails looked at the empty doorway. "That was fast, even for him. He's in a real hurry, huh?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah, it looks like that."

* * *

Sonic was running down Palm boulevard, in the direction of the hotel. His mind was completely set on getting as good as possible for the tournament, as fast as possible. If the reputation of the Jedi was as good as Tails had said, then beating them would be all the sweeter. But he was distracted from this thought when the hotel came into view. Around the entrance to the hotel stood a handful of cars with the text 'WPD - Wuhu Police Department' on the side and around them stood a handful of police officers, looking very serious. At the lawn beside the entrance there was a huge gathering of people, looking all kinds of distraught.

Sonic stopped running right by the gates outside the hotel and walked up to the police officers. The police officers noticed Sonic and looked at him as he approached them.

"What's going on here?"

One of the police officers spoke up. "There has been a break-in at the hotel." He looked Sonic up and down. "What's your business here?"

"I came to get something from my room. I'm in room 53, on the sixth floor."

"You're going to have to wait for a while. We want the hotel empty while we're investigating. We told all the guests to stand out here." He pointed to the mass of people on the lawn. "The only one in there right now is the staff and guests of the room that was invaded."

Sonic looked at the people on the lawn. "What room was that?"

The police officers looked at each other before anyone of them said anything more. "The penthouse."


	4. Swordplay Practice

**4\. Swordplay Practice**

* * *

"How long have we walked?" Amy said.

"Only a few blocks." Tails said.

"Weird. Even though we were only going to the outdoor gym, it feels like we've been walking for more than a year."

"Yeah, we should really pick up the pace."

* * *

The outdoor gym was placed by the coast of Wuhu Town. It was where everyone on the island came to work out. It was a fenced enclosure, filled with pull-up bars, benches and curl-racks, all with their weights shining in the afternoon sun. The enclosure was populated by people of all shapes and sizes, as long as the shapes were _swole_ and the sizes _large_. Everyone there was grunting and growling at their weights as their muscles bulged to carry it all. Those that weren't were busy roaring words of encouragement at the rest.

Tails felt intimidated by the environment as he and Amy came close to it. Especially since they couldn't get in before Sonic came back with Amy's stamp card. Tails looked around the gym area, both intimidated and impressed.

"Wow. Look at these guys..." He said in awe.

"Yeah. Look at these guys..." Amy said in a different kind of awe.

Tails tried to look for some way to get in to the place. Just standing outside the fence made him feel embarrassed. He noticed a small booth and a gate on the seaside of the enclosure. He grabbed the transfixed Amy by the wrist and went towards it.

At the booth they were met by Mr Trainer, who greeted them as soon as they came close enough.

"Good afternoon to you two. How can I help you?"

"We would like to practice some sword fighting. We're just waiting for someone." Tails said. He turned to Amy. "What's taking so long, anyway?

"I don't know. He should be back by now."

"If you want to use the sword fighting ring you're going to have to wait for a while anyway." Mr Trainer said. "It's currently occupied." He pointed towards the corner of the enclosure where the fighting ring sat.

Inside it stood Obi-Wan and Anakin with a wooden sword each, staring each other down. They were both wearing their jedi clothes, but had taken off their big, flowing robes. On top of that they were also wearing a big padded mask each, probably for protection.

Anakin suddenly lunged towards Obi-Wan, striking at him with great force. Obi-Wan made a quick precise movement to block it and struck Anakin's sword out of the way. Anakin spun around and slashed towards Obi-Wan again. Obi-Wan heaved his sword towards Anakin and blocked the slash in the moment before it hit him. Anakin slid the length of his sword across Obi-Wan's and managed to smack him in the face with it. The entire movement took no more than two seconds.

Obi-Wan grunted and stumbled back. Anakin triumphantly went back to his resting fighting position.

Obi-Wan gathered himself and took the padded mask off. "You're getting better at this very quickly."

Anakin took his mask off as well. "It's still a lot to adapt to. These weapons are so clumsy. The weight is so uneven and it's still so light and flimsy. I wish we didn't need to use them."

"No use in complaining, Anakin. It is only for the tournament."

"They could use fake lightsabers for that. Using lightsabers would make all swordsmen on this planet better anyway."

"Maybe so, but in that case we must let them adopt it at their own pace. I believe the people of this planet say 'When in Rome, do as the Romans'. For now, we're not getting out of using these things."

Anakin sighed but accepted the situation. "You're right, Master. Though I don't know what Romans are."

"Neither do I, but the message is still clear."

"Did you see how fast that was?" Tails said. Him and Amy had observed the whole fight from the entrance.

"Yeah. That's definately faster than anything I could do." Amy said.

"What if we get matched up against one of them?"

"I don't know. Do you think that was fast enough to beat Sonic?"

"Depends on how good of a swordfighter Sonic is."

"I guess." Amy's mood suddenly went from awe to irritation. "Speaking of Sonic, where is he?"

Just as she said that a loud crack could be heard across the bay, from the beach by the hotel. Everyone around the gym looked towards the source of the sound and saw something speeding across the water like a motorboat, except many times faster. When the moving object had gotten halfway through the bay it made a turn and started heading straight towards the gym. The inhabitants of it started getting nervous.

Tails just nodded and looked at Amy. "There."

The dashing object was obviously Sonic, running on the surface of the water towards the gym. As he got closer Tails and Amy took a few steps back and grabbed onto the fence. When Sonic got close enough he jumped up on the street by the shore and stopped completely, right in front of Tails and Amy. The sudden stop sent a shock wave through the air. Tails and Amy would've fallen over for sure if they hadn't held on to something.

Sonic walked up to Amy and gave her his own stamp card. "I can't get in to our room right now. Take my card and start practicing. I'll find you later."

Amy was surprised. "What?" She hadn't quite processed what Sonic just said.

Sonic looked out across the gym. Everybody was already looking at him, so there was no need to get their attention. "Everyone, cover your ears!" he shouted, and turned back towards the bay.

"Sonic wait!" Amy said. "Why can't you—"

Sonic didn't wait. With another deafening boom he dashed away across the water, back towards the hotel. The shock wave knocked over everyone in and around the gym, except for Tails, who held on to the fence, and Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"He is incredibly fast." Obi-Wan said.

"But he will not be fast enough." Anakin said.

"Do not get cocky, Anakin"

"Of course not, Master."

* * *

The people outside Cocoba Hotel were in absolute chaos. They were either lying or sitting on the ground and they were all shouting for some reason. Either because they were angry or had just gotten tinnitus. The police officers were all trying to calm them down, and get the situation under control.

That was when the police commissioner came rushing out from the hotel. "What the hell was that sound?!" He screamed. His voice was loud and raspy, and it echoed in a strange way through his throat, as if his vocal chords where vibrating independently of each other.

The crowd went silent and all turned to the commissioner. When they saw his face they all shrieked in horror for a second. Then they all went silent again.

The commissioner walked up to the rest of the officers. "What just happened down here?"

One of the officers gathered himself and answered. "Sir, there was a blue hedgehog down here who wanted to get in to his hotel room and started asking about the crime scene and when we told him why he couldn't go in he told everyone to cover their ears and then he jumped up on the fence and—"

A boom was heard from the other side of the bay. Everyone turned to look at it and saw Sonic, running back to the hotel across the water.

"Oh god he's back."

The commissioner followed Sonic with his eyes. He had never seen anything like it. He had seen equally strange things, but never something like it. When Sonic got close enough to the shore he once again jumped up off the water, this time landing on top of a post in the fence.

The police commissioner looked at Sonic. "Who are you?"

Sonic looked back. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog." Sonic looked up and down the police commissioner. "And who are you?"

He was definately not human. He was easily more than two meters tall and he had a face that looked like some mix between an armadillo and a parrot. He also only had three fingers on each hand.

The commissioner crossed his arms. "I'm the WPD commissioner, Garrus Vakarian."

"Commissioner, huh? Good. I wanted to ask you something."

"I'm not sure I'm in a good mood to answer questions right now."

Sonic just went ahead anyway. "Is Jack okay?"

"Jack?"

"Kennedy. Are the Kennedys okay?"

Garrus turned around and looked at the other officers and growled. "You told him who the victim was?!"

"Don't chew them out too much, Commissioner. They only said it was the penthouse. I already knew the Kennedys were staying there."

Garrus looked at Sonic again. "Hmm." He looked at the crowd of people to the side. They were all looking back at him. "Did any of you hear that?"

Everyone in the crowd either nodded slowly or shook their heads slowly, obviously lying.

Garrus rubbed his eyes and turned to Sonic again. "I shouldn't be answering questions like these outside of press conferences, but rumors are gonna spread like wildfire if I don't. Yes. The Kennedy's are unharmed. They were not in their room at the time. As far as anyone knows it was just a normal break-in."

The crowd started murmuring. They sounded both relieved and intrigued.

One of the police officers tapped Garrus on the shoulder. "Uhm, Commissioner..?"

"What? Yes?"

The officer whispered something to him.

"Is that true? Why wasn't I told earlier?" He turned to Sonic again. "As for you, Sonic, I would like to talk to you at the police station later."

Sonic raised an eyebrow at Garrus. "Really? Why so?"

"Because I want to ask you some questions. What else would it be at a time like this? You seem to know the Kennedys, and you knew where they were staying."

"I hope I'm not a suspect."

"That depends on what you say at the station."

"Well, if it doesn't take too long."

"That also depends on what you say."

Sonic looked at Garrus. "Alright. I'll come along."

* * *

The sun was setting on Wuhu Island. The orange light and the red sky reflecting in the still waters gave the entire island a warm glow. The gym was about to close and all the fitness nuts and gym rats were leaving. Anakin and Obi-Wan were heading back through the town on their way back to the hotel.

"Hey, Master. What do you say we try out the bar at the hotel when we get back?" Anakin said.

"Are you planning on getting drunk so close to the beginning of the tournament?"

"Not completely, but we are on vacation after all. Why not enjoy ourselves? We could at least talk to some of the other guests."

"That we could. But don't let me catch you unconscious later."

"Of course not, Master."

* * *

If you walk past the reception desk at Cocoba Hotel and turn left you get into a big, dark room with a low ceiling and sparse, faded lighting. The room has a small stage and a dancefloor, a few dozen round tables, and a bar with a big rack of spirits. This is the Cocoba Hotel Bar, also known as 'The Cocobar' where guests can stop by after five in the evening to have a drink and some snacks. At this time of day - right around dinner - the bar was steadily filling up. Most of the patrons currently entering the bar had just eaten dinner, or had been hanging around since way earlier in the day.

When Anakin and Obi-Wan entered the room it was about half full. Half of all the tables were taken and all but one or two bar stools were taken.

As the look across the room Obi-Wan turned to Anakin. "How about I find us a table and you go get us each a drink?"

"Sure, Master." Anakin went over to the bar.

Obi-Wan immediately started looking for a cozy corner somewhere. While he was walking through the room however he noticed a Tails and Amy on one table, both looking quite distraught. He decided to go over and check up on them.

Anakin managed to squeeze in at the edge of the bar and got the bartender's attention. He ordered two tall glasses of whatever the bartender recommended. The bartender went over to the tap and started pouring two glasses of what looked like cider.

The man next to Anakin seemed to be in the middle of some kind of rant. "I even missed my canoeing time because the hotel was locked down today."

The man he was ranting to didn't seem like he knew the ranter. "Uhuh... How long is the waiting list for that thing?"

"Like four days at least."

"That's not... that bad."

"BUT I WANT TO WATCH THE SWORDPLAY TOURNAMENT AROUND THAT TIME! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PLAN MY TRIP LIKE THIS?"

Anakin tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but did you say the hotel was locked down today?"

The man turned around and looked at Anakin. "Are you hitting on me?"

"I'm just asking."

"Well, yes. The police locked the hotel down earlier today because someone had broken into a room. Useless thing to lock the entire hotel for. I mean it's just one room, how bad could it be. It's not as if anyone was shot."

"I see."

The bartender came over with Anakin's drinks. Anakin thanked him and started looking for Obi-Wan. He found him in the middle of the room, together with Tails and Amy.

"I see you made some friends." Anakin said.

"So I did." Obi-Wan said. "Please, sit down."

Anakin sat down and handed Obi-Wan his cider.

Tails extended his hand towards Anakin. "I don't think we've met before. I'm Tails."

Anakin shook Tails' hand. "Anakin. Pleasure."

"Anakin Skywalker, right? I've heard a lot about you. It's a pleasure to actually meet you in person."

Anakin chuckled. "Oh, the pleasure is all mine."

"We never really got to introduce ourselves earlier today." Amy extended her hand to Anakin. "I'm Amy." They shook hands as well.

"They seemed a little down when I found them here."

"Yes. We haven't been able to find Sonic all afternoon." Amy said. "The last thing we saw of him was earlier when we planned to go to the gym."

"We noticed him there too." Obi-Wan said. "Didn't he run back to the hotel after that?"

"We haven't found him here either, and we haven't found anyone who knows where he went. Everyone we've asked were away from the hotel around that time."

Anakin looked at Amy. "Did it have anything to do with the lockdown?"

The other three gave Anakin a confused look.

"I heard from someone at the bar that the hotel had been locked down because of a police investigation earlier today."

"A police investigation?" Tails said. "For what?"

"Apparently there was a break-in, and the police made a big deal out of it. That man was at the hotel and was kept from his canoeing time because of it."

Amy looked towards the bar. "Who told you that?"

Anakin pointed to the man, still sitting at the bar. Amy got up from the table and walked over to him.

"Excuse me, sir."

The man looked down to Amy. "Who are you? Are you hitting on me?"

"I'm Amy, and no I'm not hitting on you. I have a boyfriend. I was wondering if you happened to see him earlier today? He's a hedgehog just like me except he's taller and blue."

The man groaned. "Yes, I did. He made quite a scene at the police investigation earlier today."

"Of course he did."

"He was taken to the police station last I heard."

"He was what?" Amy's eyes widened.

"I said he was taken to the police-"

"Thank you." Amy stormed back to the table.

"Any luck?" Tails asked as Amy sat back down at the table.

"Yes! Sonic was taken to the police station."

It took all of Anakin's might to not spit-take at that. Obi-Wan noticed and gave Anakin a scolding look.

"What?" Tails said. "How did they catch him?"

"He must've gone willingly for some reason." Amy shrugged. "The police would just not have the power to take him by force."

"Well, let's hope he's out of there before tomorrow. Otherwise we're going to be in trouble."

"Trouble?" Obi-Wan said.

"All of us are signed up for the Swordplay tournament." Tails said. "Sonic is the only experienced sword fighter among us so he was going to help us train."

"Sonic is an experienced sword fighter?" Anakin seemed surprised.

"He says he is." Tails said. "None of us have ever seen it."

"Do you believe him?" Obi-Wan said.

Tails and Amy looked at each other. "I guess." Amy said.

"Yeah, I've never heard Sonic lie or brag when he can't back it up." Tails said. "This would be a strange moment for him to start doing that just now."

"I guess we'll see." Anakin said. "The qualifying fights will start in three days."

Tails and Amy both sighed and looked down into their glasses. Obi-Wan looked at them, concerned. Before he or anyone else could say anything Anakin suddenly sensed something.

He looked up and towards the entrance to the bar. "Look who's here."

Everyone looked the way he was looking. In through the entrance, Sonic came strolling, like nothing was wrong. Amy got up instantly and stormed over towards Sonic.

"Where have YOU been?" Amy screamed.

"Hey now, hey now, it's nice to see you too, Ames."

"Don't Ames me! What is this I hear about you getting caught by the police?"

"They didn't _catch_ me."

"That's not the point!"

"Can we take this outside? You're making a scene."

Amy looked around. Sonic was right. Everyone in the bar was looking straight at them. She pulled Sonic into the corridor outside, between the reception and the bar.

"You just left us at the gym before. What was me and Tails supposed to do?"

"I thought you could start teaching him the basics. You know how to hold a weapon, right?"

"A hammer, yes. A sword is different. We would look like complete idiots."

"Why didn't you ask Mr Trainer for help?"

"He is way too busy."

"Why is he even called Mr Trainer if he doesn't train people?"

"And what are you doing with the police?"

"Someone broke into the penthouse earlier today and they are investigating it."

"WHAT?! WHAT DID-" She stopped herself when a passing couple looked at her funny. "What did you have to do with that?" She whispered.

"Nothing, Ames. I was there while the hotel was locked down because I tried to get your card, and they wanted to ask me a few questions while I was there."

"Why did they keep you at the station for that?"

"Because I've been in trouble with the law before. The whole ARK incident is still on my record even though everyone knows I was framed by Shadow."

"Oh, and do you know what I found out at the gym?! YOU DON'T NEED A CARD A PERSON TO GET IN! You can bring friends! We could've been practicing already!"

"Amy, please! Calm down!" Sonic raised his voice for the first time since he came back. "It was a small hiccup, okay? We can get to practicing tomorrow."

"There's only three days left until the qualifying fights."

"You'll be fine, Amy. It's not a fight to the death. You're honestly overreacting."

"I AM NOT OVERREACTING, SONIC! YOU'RE JUST..." Amy looked like the next word got stuck in her throat before she just "GNRRR!" and stormed away.

"Amy, please." Sonic said after her.

She stopped and turned back to him. "I'm going to bed! You're sleeping on the couch tonight!" She continued storming away and went up towards the rooms.

Sonic looked into the Cocobar, noticing a few patrons still looking his way, and made eye contact with Tails. Tails incessantly nodded towards the corridor, urging Sonic to follow Amy. Sonic rolled his eyes and went away from the bar, except out of the hotel instead of after Amy.

Tails rubbed his eyes, tiredly.

Anakin suddenly stood up. "I'll go check on them." He walked out of the bar, after Amy.

Obi-Wan looked surprised, but did of course not interfere. "Is that relationship on rocky ground right now?"

"No, they're always like that. They love each other though."

"I didn't exactly sense much love from them. They seem annoyed at each other."

"Maybe. Honestly I think they'll work it out. They always do. It's part of the relationship. I just hope they do it in time to practice."

"Do you think they will be bickering for that long?"

"Not really, but I don't have any sword fighting experience. I want as much practice as I can get before the qualifying fights."

"You have no experience and you still signed up."

"I wasn't taking it too seriously anyway. I'm on vacation here. I'm looking to have fun, and getting beat up with rubber swords doesn't sound terrifying to me. If I win something, that's fun. If I don't, no loss. I'm usually a quick learner anyway."

Obi-Wan nodded understandingly and took a sip of his drink. "I can train you."

Tails chuckled and took a sip of his own drink.

Obi-Wan didn't say anything.

Tails looked at Obi-Wan. "Wait... Are you serious?"

"Well, why wouldn't I be? You want as much practice as you can get, right?"

Tails thought about it. "I wonder what Sonic would say about that."

"Would he not understand if you asked someone else for help when he couldn't help you?"

Tails thought again. "You're right. He probably would."

"Good, then we'll meet at five tomorrow morning outside the hotel." Obi-Wan swigged the rest of his cider and stood up.

Tails looked shocked. "At five? In the morning?"

"Yes. See you then." Obi-Wan left the bar.

Tails looked like he was already regretting his decision. He nervously took a sip of his own drink.

* * *

Half-way up the stairs Anakin caught up to Amy.

"Hey, Amy!" He said.

She stopped and turned around. "What do you want?" She said, agitated.

"Are you okay? That seemed... heated."

She sighed. "I'm just... Sonic is just such an idiot sometimes." She looked over the railing, down the rest of the staircase. "He's not even coming to say sorry is he?"

Anakin looked the same way. "At least not now." He shrugged. "Maybe he's already at the room."

Amy looked hopeful for a second. Then not. "No, he's probably moping around somewhere." Then she looked irritated. "I want to get back at him for not showing up today."

"You shouldn't think like that. It's never good to act out of spite." Anakin said.

Amy didn't listen. She was obviously concocting some kind of revenge plot in her head. Anakin could sense as much.

Suddenly she lit up. "Wait a second!" She walked down a couple of steps towards Anakin. "You're one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy, right?"

"I mean..." Anakin knew he was supposed to be humble, but he really liked that.

"Will you train me?"

"What..?" Anakin didn't really know how to answer.

"Will you help me practice my sword fighting? It will be perfect! I already have some experience handling weapons and with your help I can probably get better than Sonic. I can both beat him in the tournament and I won't even need his help practice. He will come begging me for forgiveness after that." She was getting excited.

At lightning speed Anakin's mind thought about how he shouldn't be encouraging this, but he was trying to beat Sonic after all, and her plan sounded kind of fun, and it was a competition after all, both him and Obi-Wan was trying to win.

"Okay. I'll help you practice." He finally said.

Amy was overjoyed. "YES! Perfect! When do we start?"

"Uhm..." Anakin thought for a moment. Obi-Wan wasn't a morning person at all, so he could probably get up kind-of early and start training around sunrise without him noticing. "Meet me at six in the morning tomorrow, outside the hotel entrance."

"Perfect! I can't wait." Amy turned back around and jogged up the stairs in a much better mood already.

Anakin stood still a moment before shrugging and returning to the bar.

* * *

Much like Amy anticipated, Sonic was indeed moping around somewhere. He wanted to take a moment to calm down, so he had done what he always does, take a nap on the roof. He had chosen a certain ledge behind the penthouse, where he could see all of the island and all of the sky, but nobody could see him. He was just about to drift away to sleep when he heard a voice from inside the penthouse. At first he shrugged it off, because he already knew who stayed in there and he had chosen to not get involved earlier in the day. Since the police had been suspicious at first it might be best to continue to do so.

But then suddenly he thought he heard a familiar word from in there. "...emeralds..." Sonic opened is eyes. He simply had to listen in a little after that. He snuck over the edge of the nearest window and held his ear as close as he could without making himself visible.

What he heard was John, speaking on the phone.

"If that is what they we're looking for it means that someone has found out about the exchange."

"..."

"No, they haven't. They apparently questioned Sonic the Hedgehog earlier today."

"..."

"No, they didn't think he had anything to do with it."

"..."

"Hmm... Maybe you're right. Well, in any case, they didn't get it. I still have it right here. It was hidden well enough for them not to find it even though they turned the whole place upside down. It's sitting right next to me, and I have checked the contents. One green and one white."

"..."

"Don't worry about that. I have had the room checked for bugs, and after today I have snipers watching the outside of the penthouse."

Sonic's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"But they're assigned by the same secret service that has given me my clumsy bodyguards. I almost feel like those snipers would fall asleep at their post."

Sonic relaxed a little.

"Otherwise-" John was interrupted by the door to the room flying up.

One of the body guards dashing in almost tripping on the doorstep as he did. "GET DOWN MR PRESIDENT!"

Just as he heard that Sonic noticed a flash of laser-red light over at the side of the mountain opposite the hotel, and right after that, a bang and the swish from a flying bullet. The sniper must've finally noticed him. Sonic effortlessly ducked out of the way of the bullet. Bullets were always slow to Sonic anyway. It crashed through the edge of the window he had been listening by, and shattered in with a loud crash. He jumped off the roof and jogged away from the hotel.

John and the bodyguard looked up from the floor, out of the newly shattered window.

The bodyguard patted Jack down to look for any blood. "Are you okay, Mr President."

"Yes. I'm fine."

The bodyguard held a finger to his earpiece. "Yes... yes... yes." He looked at John. "The snipers say that Sonic the Hedgehog was outside the window, clearly listening in."

John looked troubled for a moment. "Thank you." He put the phone back to his ear. "Are you still there?"

"..."

"Yes, I'm fine. But you might've been right after all."


End file.
